An Alternate Path
by DeathAmaterasu
Summary: Instead of being only tortured for ten days, he was tortured for nearly a five weeks. Instead of joining the Aogiri, Kaneki decided to go on a journey on his own to become stronger. Massive A.U. OP!Kaneki. Small-Harem!Kaneki. Multi-Crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Pain… such a horrid and straightforward concept.

You see, pain was the best teacher. It was always straightforward with you. It never lied. It restrained no feelings. Pain was merciless. Pain allowed you to know when you did something wrong or when your imperil. That's why pain was the best teacher, the best tutor.

But, it was also hell. Especially for those didn't have a choice but to endure the pain. Young Fourteen Year Old Ken Kaneki appreciated that better than just about anyone.

Sometimes… life just sucked, you know? Every so often, you merely suffer the shit end of the stick. Sometimes, you commit unfortunate mistakes because of one's own naïve nature. Sometimes… someone is unfortunate enough to possess all of those unfortunate qualities. Sometimes… he truly wondered if he was cursed. If this was all for someone's ill amusement. His own suffering. If so, he truly couldn't be angry. After all, he was nothing but a plaything, fate decided it.

He was getting continuously tortured in all most violent ways… and all he could do was scream, wail and beg for his life. He truly was pathetic, now that he calmed down and thought about it.

He experienced his entire 'new' life by skidding across other people's generousness. He could receive, receive, receive and receive fine. But, he couldn't even pay back that kindness… and the sad thing was… he never thought about doing it either. He was always too caught up in denying the 'new' part of himself that was unwillingly implanted onto himself.

…He pondered what it would be now. More Centipedes in his ear? Having teeth plucked one by one? Being forced to tear off all of his own fingernails again? Who knows, that bastard Yamori could have found something new to make his 'life' even more of a living hell. He often wondered why. He even asked. But, the sole answer that he got, was that he was unique. That merely served to enrage him even more.

Off and on, he would be overwhelmed with white-hot hate and fury, but that would soon pass over and would be replaced with numbness. Even if he struggled, even if yelled, even if he promised to kill Yamori, even if he promised to slaughter everyone in the building… it never got him anywhere expect a crueler beating then the last. However… he was driven to his breaking point, just a day later. To a point where he couldn't even feel numb. He didn't appreciate how it felt… it just felt dreadful. He wanted to kill… he wanted to eat… he wanted to tear that fucker's Yamori's face off with his bare teeth. He absolutely couldn't tolerate it… the carnal hunger and rage that he had been holding back ever since he had realized that he was half Ghoul.

But now… he just didn't care anymore… he just couldn't be bothered by restraining that part of himself back anymore. He tried being human… look where that got him; strapped to a chair being ruthlessly tortured by a madman that had the largest, most violent imagination.

And he exploited that to continuously cause harm to others. Not only that, but he was there for much longer then even Yamori thought possible. After torturing Kaneki for a few days, he quickly made a vow; he wouldn't kill or allow Kaneki to leave until he was broken and so… He was given time by the heads of the Aogiri Tree to take whatever time he needed. And he did so generously with a giant smile on his face like he received his favorite toy on Christmas Day.

In the beginning, he was planning on just torturing Kaneki for maybe a week or so… but no, that time soon increased when he realized how special he genuinely was. Due to Kaneki unnatural healing abilities, Yamori was quickly intrigued and decided to put Kaneki's healing factor to the truest of tests. And o-boy were those test beyond painful, hell Kaneki wasn't even sure if painful was even on the same realm anymore. Hell once Yamori got to the second week of torture, he started even classifying it as a research project, not even torture any longer.

And… Kaneki took it all. He took it for as long as he could… four weeks was what he was able to handle and to endure. Hell, Yamori would even admit that he lived and lasted longer any other of his torture subjects, something that Kaneki just answered by giving him the middle finger.

However, Kaneki was tired… tired of being beaten… tired of being hurt… tired of being thrown around like a rag doll… tired of being a helpless, a no good cause to anybody.

And so… he let go.

"Ah~ Kaneki-kun… tell me what number are we on~?" asked a stickily melodious voice that held sheer malice and enjoyment. However, there was no answer, so he continued. "Was it three-hundred and forty-seven? Oh, oh… it was three-hundred and sixty-six… no, wait! It was four-hundred and one… wasn't it? Ah, hell. I was never good at math." He grumbled before he instantly brightened up as a thought struck him. "That's what you're here for right?" He asked in a dangerous tone that was filled with bloodlust.

Kaneki, however, just continued sitting there, head down, facing his knees, completely motionless.

Jason or Yamori whatever he went by growled menacingly as he towered over Kaneki's motionless form before he reached out roughly grasped Kaneki's dark black hair with his large, burly hands. "I… asked… you… a… question. Now… answer… it…" Jason growled angrily.

A faint voice, devoid of all emotion pierced through the giant's ears. "How about this for an answer." He mumbled incoherently, his voice barely coming out above a raspy whisper.

Before even Jason could react, the sounds of chains breaking filled the air and Kaneki kicked him from under his chin with bone breaking force before Jason was sent rocketing upwards. Kaneki then jumped up, easily catching up in altitude to Jason, who winced in pain. But, he barely opened his eyes, and he saw Kaneki smirk cruelly to him before he heel kicked him straight to the ground, literally sending him burrowing into it, resulting in a large dust cloud.

The half-ghoul landed down as well, only a few feet away from Jason.

Silence reigned through the air before the ground rumbled loudly and like a jet, and Jason came shooting out of the ground like a raging bull. He panted roughly as he winced in pain. He rotated his shoulder resounding in loud popping and cracking sound. He grunted in pain as his nostrils flared angerly.

"W-Where… Where are YOU KANEKI?! SHOW YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!" He loudly yelled as he flared his power, thrusting the dust away, revealing the battlefield.

Kaneki stood twenty or so feet away. However, he looked different. The most obvious was his hair. Instead of it being black like it was moments formerly, it was currently snow white. Next, was his left eye. Instead of having white sclera, he now had pitch black sclera and blood red iris'. Kaneki had reached up and wiped some blood off his lip before he looked Jason right in his shocked eyes.

"Bah! You taste disgusting. You taste even worse than human food. I didn't even think that was possible." He taunted with a small smirk on his face as he spat out a glob of flesh and blood on the tile ground.

Jason's eyes widened even farther before he experienced a warm sensation bleed down the side of his face, causing him to look and his eyes widened even further in horror when saw a sizable gash inside of his face.

Y-Y-You, b-bit ME?!" Jason loudly asked while grounding his teeth in fury.

"Yeah, didn't you see? I mean, I moved pretty slow. I thought for sure you would've noticed." Kaneki exclaimed calmly, but his tone indicated that he was serious.

"Y-You little shit!" He growled.

' _I knew that my power increased when I chose to accept my Ghoul powers… but I didn't expect this much… I mean, it felt like I was going extremely slow.'_ Kaneki thought seriously.

Just as Jason was about to go on another tirade, Kaneki started speaking once more. "Tell me something and be serious with me… did you see me move, at all?" He asked in a serious tone, getting Jason to growl even louder, thinking that the brat was taunting him.

He just kept growling in anger like he was some rabid dog, rapidly losing his temper.

After a few moments, Kaneki sighed in irritation before he took a step forward. "Fine… if you don't want to answer me… I'll ask again." He said out loud before he ran forward once more at immense speeds, kicking up some dirt from behind him.

Jason blinked before he suffered an astounding amount of pain in stomach. He robotically looked down and saw a fist lodged inside his stomach. "Did you see me move at all?" He asked once more. Jason gasped in pain before he spat out a glob of blood out of his mouth.

"B-Barley!" He spat.

"Interesting… you know, I didn't quite get that, can you repeat it?" Kaneki asked, suddenly smirking very sadistically.

"Bar-Barely," He said much loud and his voice coming out like a squeak.

Kaneki sadistic smirk got even larger, making himself look very disturbing, after all, it wasn't every day that you see a young boy at age of fourteen smirk like that. Add the fact that he had a trail of someone else's blood lining out of his mouth, made it a whole lot worse.

In a blink of an eye, Kaneki retracted his outstretched fist and elbowed him straight between the eyes, sending him tumbling back a few feet. Leaping forward with his knee pointed outwards, he spiked himself right into Yamori's midsection before he jumped up and roundhouse kicked him, straight in the side of the mouth. The large was shocked when he felt the overwhelming force of the kick before he was smashed into the wall other side of the wall, creating a small, slightly transparent dust cloud.

Kaneki landed on his feet nimbly and looked at Yamori's recovering from with those half idled silvery-brown eyes of his that were filled satisfaction and pleasure.

"I-I I-I I-I I-I've h-had IT!" Yamori stuttered dazedly before he screamed at the top of his lungs. And almost immediately after, a shockwave hit and out of Yamori's back came his red and blue sharp shaped Kagune which carved itself like two sharp feathery angel wings.

However, he went even further, creating another shockwave, about twice, maybe three times stronger than last one, causing Kaneki to slightly conceal his face from the forceful winds. The shockwave quieted down and was replaced with Yamori saved cries of pain and anguish.

Kaneki wouldn't help but be in slight awe. Instead of just showing his Kagune, like Kaneki thought he was going to do, he did something even he never expected. This was a Kakuja, the rarest form any type of Ghoul could hope to achieve, and it was supposed to increase your power exponentially. The sole reason he knew that, was because Yamori informed him during his torture, lucky him.

Around his entire left arm, was a dark purple substance that hardened around his entire arm and hand. It had undergone the form to be like sort of multi-finger crab claw, from the top of his shoulder it also traveled upwards to his face tunneled right into his face, blocking his eyes, but nevertheless giving access to his mouth.

Yamori breathed out rugged breaths as hunched over into a runners stance and Kankei insincerely brought his hands and shielded his face and before he knew or saw Yamori move, he was launched through the air at breakneck speeds before he crashed into the wall, way harder than Yamori did previously.

Gradually, he got up and cracked his neck and winced slightly in comfort. Reaching towards into his rugged black shorts, he pulled a rock and glanced at it. "Leave it to me to have a rock stuffed into my pants during a life and death situation. Man, this world positively hates me, doesn't it?" He asked with some humor in his tone, but it was dead and morbid humor. Looking down at his practically destroyed shirt, he grasped it with his idle hand before he effortlessly ripped it off, causing the shirt to fall onto the ground, leaving his torso completely exposed.

Grasping the rock in hands and with feeble effort, he crushed it, shattering it into millions of pieces.

' _He's strong… is this the result of eating other Ghouls? Does it really make you that much stronger?'_ He thought as he dusted himself off. He prepared himself as he eyed his opponent. _'I went from swatting him around with ease to him moving so fast that I barely tracked was able to track him, and even, I was only about to track his blur.'_ He thought before he to crouched in a runners stance.

On the bottom of his back, some of his skin started turning black and in a flash, four, appendages shot clean out of his back with little trouble at all. With a mental command, one of the appendages flowed through the air dipped around his head, around his head, allowing Kaneki to observe his Kagune.

"Hmmm, I don't really think I've ever had four of these before… and I was never capable enough to call them out on command. And come to think of it, they never this easy to control. But… weren't they red?" He questioned. And indeed, they were red before the torture, but somehow they changed colors. Instead of being bright ruby red in color, they now were pale white, the same color as his hair. "However… I do quite like the color, at least more than red for whatever reason." He hummed to himself before his ears ticked forward as he heard a burst of movement kick up from behind him.

Without looking backwards, he inclined his head to the side, averting a narrow strike from Yamori's now transformed Kakuja claw and it slammed right into the ground, just mere feet away.

Narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, Yamori minimalized his movements and whipped across the ground with his clawed hand in an effort to grab Kaneki by the leg.

Thinking fast, he prompted himself upwards with a quick use of two of his Kagune tentacles, narrowly dodging another faced paced attack. Utilizing the other two, he then slammed Yamori's Kakuja claw into the ground before Kaneki pivoted around and roundhouse kicked him in the side of the head, sending him tumbling back few steps.

Kaneki then grinned savagely before launching himself forward with the help of his Kagune tails and grabbed Yamori by his face and roughly flung him into the wall. While still holding him, Kaneki spoke, knowing Yamori would hear him. "It's hilarious really… I never would have fought like this a month ago. I never would have planned your death in my head so many times that it actually started sounding boring. I never would have loved the feeling of extreme bloodlust as I do now. It's ironic and pathetic that the very thing you created is going to slaughter you." Kaneki spoke with dark amusement clear in his tone as he chuckled darkly.

Apparently, the berserk Kakuja didn't take to kindly to that as swiped Kaneki straight of his face with his claw, sending him tumbling to ground with massive force. And in a flash of surprising speed, the Kakuja was right into the front of Kaneki once more. Raising his claw and normal arm, he then slammed onto Kaneki's exposed body, burrowing him into the ground. Walking back some, the berserk Yamori decided to play with his 'food' a bit longer, so he was going to wait and let Kaneki recover.

From about six feet down through the concrete, Kaneki slightly groaned in discomfort. "Okay, note to self; watch out for that claw. Damn him." He mumbled to himself before he jumped out the hole at quick speeds before he landed straight on the concrete platform with of his shoeless feet. His four bone colored Kagune stilled behind him in a form like spider legs.

"That actually hurt a little… not a lot or anywhere near that it has me wincing… But it's an impressive start!" He finished with a bloodthirsty smile.

"RRUUUHGGG!" Yamori savagely screamed as he charged forward once more with his clawed hand held backward, charging a punch. Kaneki charged forward as well as mentally commanded his Kagune swiped forward, countering Yamori's punch. He then jumped up and slashed forward with his Kagune tails. Detecting the attack, Yamori raised his enlarged arm and parried the attack, causing some of the ground to give out underneath.

Both Ghouls gritted their teeth they struggled to overpower one another. Decided to play it smart, Kaneki slightly maneuvered his body to the side before he slipped his Kagune off the berserker's arm and clashed all four of his white Kagune tails against where the side of Yamori's elbow would be, causing it to whip aside. He then turned around once more and used that momentum to make his upcoming attack even stronger. He then whipped his white Kagune around and smashed them right into the side of the enraged berserker.

Seeing that his attack inflicted little damage, he jumped back and disengaged. Kaneki frowned a slight bit. _'Every injury that I inflict on him heals after a small while. Forcing a prolonged battle as I planned would be stupid. I need to inflict as a much damage as I can each time I attack. I can't be worrying about conserving energy. If he was purely using his Kagune, it wouldn't be a problem, but I can afford to hold back.'_ Kaneki thought seriously, no longer taking the fight as a game.

The wild Yamori charged forward once more in a reckless abandon.

' _Every time he runs forward, he provides a sizable opening… every time he attacks, he repeatedly leads with that right hand… I have an idea.'_ Kaneki thought a devious smirk coming onto his face.

Just as he was about to get in Kaneki's face, the white-haired Ghoul dropped to the ground while also folding his Kagune before he reclined his knees into his chest, waiting for Yamori to fly over him. He only had to wait half a second before he had executed his move. Propelling himself upwards with his Kagune tails, he spear kicked right into giant's stomach, causing him to choke up saliva. Kaneki then turned slightly and kicked him in the face before he smacked Yamori right in the face with his Kagune, sending him tumbling back.

Not allowing the giant a chance to recover, used one of his Kagune tails to pierce right through Yamori's shoulder, causing the giant to scream.

"I wonder… if I consume stronger Ghouls, will it make my blood stronger, rather than consuming a regular Ghoul?" Kaneki asked mostly to himself before looked at Yamori's form, which was now starting to subtly change. Instead of having the purple mass drilling into his face, that now receded, leaving his entire face visible once again.

"Now… tell me, Yamori or Jason…" He started, with a dark grin forming onto his face before a Kaneki cracked his index finger with his thumb, getting a sickening crack to fill the air.

"What's One-thousand minus Seven?"


	2. Afterwards

"So, that's it? You're just going to leave her on the cold ground… while bleeding out?" Came a toneless voice from behind them both.

Ayato snapped his head around so quick that most would have thought it would fly off. His eyes widened when he saw a familiar masked face, but he barely recognized the entire figure. His eyes glinted in the light, a singular

Kakugan staring the younger brother down with an impassive look.

' _Eye-Patch?'_

"I asked you a question… are you going to just leave her laying here?" He asked in an emotionless voice.

Ayato let a growl escape his throat, "Don't you dare question me! You hear me?!" Ayato yelled upwards, only to see Eye-Patch gone. Looking down in confusion before his eyes widened in shock when saw him holding Touka in his arms.

Touka winced heavily as she took slow, labored breaths before she looked up and saw a familiar mask. Only to wince even further when she saw an emotionless Kakugan staring into her own violet pools.

' _K-Kaneki? No… Kaneki doesn't have those eyes… his eyes are filled with kindness, nervousness, and anxiousness. Not emotionless and hunger. But, he's the only person that wears that mask… does that mean that escaped?'_ Touka thought in concentration.

"I'm sorry I took so long… but I had a view loose ends to tie up." He spoke while vaguely looking into her eyes, but not completely meeting her gaze.

"K-K-Kaneki?" She questioned hopefully.

He looked down, ultimately meeting his gaze. However, she took in the look in his eye, and it wasn't Kaneki. Not the Kaneki she knew. Especially when she had enough time to take in his overall appearance. Instead of having black hair as he did before… he had white hair and his fingernails, and they were black!

"Touka… I'm going to have to ask you hold onto me tightly." He told her while looking into her eyes. She looked at him questionably before he grasped onto him as tightly as she could at her current strength before Kaneki started hopping from one place to another, dodging red and blue crystal shards that were shot out a like a machine gun. He dodged each attack with pure ease and without even looking, as his eye never once left Touka's own. In one more burst of speed, he landed right in front of Nishiki, who looked positively shocked.

"Nishiki… please keep her safe, I will deal with Ayato." He intoned as he crouched down to the orange haired Ghoul who shakily nodded.

"Kaneki!" Touka gasped, as she felt her leave Kaneki's arms. "W-Wait I have so much to ask!" She continued hurriedly as if he would disappear if he left and in fear of losing him again. However, she was completely caught off guard when Kaneki lightly placed a finger on her lips, as if to tell her to stop talking.

"No matter what, we'll talk later. And before I can do anything… I just want to apologize." He muttered to her, his emotionless red and black turning into one of caring and extreme sorrow.

She lightly blushed as she averted his gaze. "Just… don't die, okay Bakaneki?"

He almost smiled before he turned around, not bothering to acknowledge the one who has been ruthlessly on his thoughts for the past few hours.

"If I find out she was hurt in your care… I'll kill you. Understand?" Kaneki asked in a deathly calm voice as he half glared with his Kakugan, receiving a frantic nod from the foul-mouthed Ghoul.

Kaneki let loose a soft smile as he turned around, leaving Nishiki to look at his scarred back, which creeped the hell out the older Ghoul a little. He subsequently closed his eyes in a peaceful manner. _'It was nice seeing you again, Touka-chan. Yes… even you to Nishiki.'_ He thought before he snapped open his left eye, staring down the angered little brother.

"I wonder, do Ghouls really take care of their siblings like that?" Kaneki asked mostly to himself, but Ayato growled as he must have heard before he clenched his fists as tightly as he could.

"You know NOTHING!" Ayato growled as his Kagune materialized before they crystallized over, and he jumped into the air. From his wings, rained a swarm of sharpened red and blue crystals.

Kaneki seeing the oncoming attack, dodged the immediate batch in a few bursts of raw speed before he closed in on Ayato as he leaped into the air, startling the blue-haired boy.

The white-haired half-ghoul pivoted himself mid-air before he heel kicked downwards, forcing Ayato to raise his hands to block the kick, which he did so with little difficulty. However, he was caught off guard when Kaneki pivoted himself through the air flawlessly and fell right behind Ayato. The blue haired Ghoul narrowed his eyes before he used his Ukaku Kagune to attack Kaneki who was just about to attack as well.

Kaneki held out his hands and pushed himself off of the Ukaku wing, sending him sailing back through the air, landing on another large water container.

Ayato, sensing his retreat, turned around to meet Kaneki's gaze. _'He's fast and agile… nothing like normal Rinkaku Ghouls… I'll have to remain on guard… there's no telling how strong he is.'_ Ayato thought analytically as he took note of Kaneki's swift and agile moves.

Allowing his wings de-crystalize, he fell right onto the ground with perfect grace, his gaze not once leaving Kaneki's form.

Nishiki eyes widened at following their fight. It was unbelievable how strong Kaneki had gotten in such a brief amount of time. _'His attacks, they're ruthless, he was barely giving Ayato enough time to recover between each one… he never fought like that… somethings not right here. And those scars.' He thought before his eyes widened even further, but this time out of horror. 'Was Ayato really telling us the truth about Jason's torture methods, is he really that ruthless? and was Kaneki really subjected to it?'_ Nishiki thought in dread.

Touka looked at Kaneki's form in what could be described as horror and confusion mixed into one. _'Was Ayato tell the truth… no-no he couldn't have… n-not Kaneki.'_ As she couldn't help but catch a glimpse of his scar-ridden torso, one of his most notable one, was a thick scar, running up from left pectoral, to right down to his bottom shoulder.

' _But he's gotten so strong now… I wonder how'd he do it.'_ She continued questioning herself with half idled eyes as she kept watching the fight.

"I'll tell you something… Ayato you're no match for me. I'm not even remotely trying and yet you can't even land a hit on me with your Kagune." Kaneki informed him in a harsh, emotionless tone, getting Ayato even angrier, but also scared as he saw Kaneki's point. He hadn't even landed a hit on Kaneki and if the white-haired Ghoul wasn't bluffing about not even trying, then he was done for. That much was certain.

"Fine… no answer? If you don't want to surrender on your own free will, then I'll make you." Kaneki declared before the bottom of his back turned black and out came four bone-white Rinkaku tails, all twitching in the wind harmonically.

Ayato blinked in surprise… okay, this way bad _. 'I was not expecting him to be able to activate his Kagune on command.'_

"You're useless in close range…" A voice snapped Ayato of his thoughts before he turned around just quick enough to catch a punch with his face, sending him skidding back.

' _He's so fast!'_

Gritting his teeth, he smeared off the blood that trailed down the side of the lip. "Grrr~." Ayato growled angrily before he too charged forward. He threw a right hook along with a few quick jabs with his left hand; however, Kaneki just tilted his head sideways for each punch, dodging them all before he caught the last one and pulled him forward, breaching his guard.

Kaneki smirked before kneed Ayato right in the stomach, causing the young boy to cough roughly. However, Ayato swiped Kaneki's legs from under him, causing him to lose his footing and to fall back before he heel kicked the white-haired teen in the stomach, sending him to the ground, creating spider web cracks.

Not stopping there, Ayato jumped up with his Kagune crystalized before he sent a hailstorm of crystals right down at the defenseless Kaneki, who just laid there and took it all.

Touka watched in full horror as she yelled as loud as she could, "KANEKI!" She shouted in worry before she erupted in a fury of coughs and wheezes. Nishiki watched in horror as well but didn't scream. The attack hit full on, creating a small dust cloud. Once the dust cloud cleared, it showed Kaneki bleed pretty heavily with dozens of scratches and some crystals lodged into his skin.

Touka wanted to cry… that would surely kill him… if she didn't help him, he would die! She struggled out Nishiki's grip before she tried to stand. However, before she could even stand, she collapsed in pain and exhaustion.

"Touka!" He shouted worry as he caught her before she fell. "Don't do that, you're still hurt." Nishiki admonished her, however, it didn't look like she cared at what type of pain she was in.

"Look at him, Nishiki, Kaneki's going to be killed. Can't, you see that!?" She yelled at him.

Indeed, Nishiki could see Kaneki's condition, but he had a feeling that the fight wasn't over just yet. "Calm down, Touka. I don't think Kaneki lost just yet." Getting her to calm down a little before she looked at him.

"You know… that didn't hurt." Kaneki's voice carried out through the roof, causing everyone's eyes to widen in shock and surprise. He reached up grasped onto a crystal that was lodged into his chest and pulled it out, getting some blood to pool out of the, now open wound. He then went and grabbed another that was stabbed into his left shoulder and pulled that one out as well.

Ayato growled in anger and frustration. Didn't anything faze that guy?!

The roof shook slightly, alarming everyone, except Kaneki and not even a few seconds later, a white Rinkaku tail sprouted from the ground, right underneath Ayato, who recognized it immediately and tried to move out of the way, but he was too late and to slow to dodge. The white tail whipped in and grabbed the purple haired boy by the ankle before he was ruthlessly slammed right into the ground a few times. However, Kaneki mentally commanded the Rinkaku tail to slam him into the ground double force. That one did the trick and Ayato was sent right through the roof. Instantly that caused the roof to shake and crack even harder before it started collapsing.

Nishiki immediately had tightened his hold on Touka before he jumped off the roof. A few seconds later, he safely landed to the ground with an injured Touka in his arms.

~~~~444~~~~

Ayato groaned in pain as he fell on an enormous rock and landed face first before he stumbled up while clutching his left arm. He looked up and narrowed his eyes, standing right in front of him was Kaneki, who was virtually unwounded.

"Dammit, you bastard!" He growled angerly as he tried calling out his Kagune, only to fall down onto his knees in exhaustion. _'Dammit, I lost too much energy fighting Touka and trying to heal this broken arm, now I'm exhausted that I can't even call out my Kagune. Danm.'_ He thought bitterly.

Kaneki, however just continued to stare at him with his one visible eye, only that he didn't have his Kakugan activated any longer and his Kagune was nowhere to be seen, leaving his silvery eyes on display.

"This fight's over. I have no reason to fight you any longer." Kaneki intoned, getting Ayato to growl in empty anger. "I'm not taunting you, Ayato. You're a strong fighter… I'm pretty certain if you were fresh, the fight would've lasted longer." Kaneki announced without much emotion in his voice, once again only stating facts.

"Then why don't you kill me then, huh?" Ayato questioned.

"I don't have a reason to. My goal is to get stronger… not killing one of my friend's precious people." Kaneki told him. But his tone surprisingly turned to a slightly joking tone, but it held a solemn undertone. "Plus, if I kill you Touka will hate me even more for what I'm about to do."

"What are you going to do?" Ayato's tone was nothing but curiousness. He knew he lost the fight, there was no reason to be angry, after all, he was already making plans of how to beat the Eye-Patch next time.

"I'm leaving." He started, getting a bewildered look from the purple haired Ghoul. "I'm not going to be staying at Anteiku." He continued, getting a nod from Ayato. "I need to get stronger and as much as I despise it… they won't want me there anymore… once they recognize what I am and how much I've actually changed, they'll hate me. After all, there's no place for a half-and-half like me. So, if I can't protect them while being with them… I'll protect them from afar and get stronger on my own way… even if they hate me for it." He divulged him in his plans, not really finding a reason to hide it from Ayato.

"So your goal is to get stronger and protect your group of coffee drinkers and my sister… nice goal." Ayato allowed a faint, gentle smile to grace his lips as he leans against a pillar while holding his fractured left arm.

"You're strong, Eye-Patch, really strong. How you survived and escaped Eleventh Ward's Jason, I don't know. But by the look of the scars on your body, I guess it wasn't easy." Ayato said, getting a nod from the white-haired Ghoul.

"You're a good person, Ayato. You may have done a lot of terrible things in your life, but so have all of us. What matters is what you'll do to protect your loved ones… and how far will you go to protect them." Kaneki informed him before he turned around and walked away, leaving Ayato to his thoughts.

' _How will I get to protect them? huh.'_

~~~~444~~~~

Touka grimaced as she leaned against the tree before breathing a sigh of relief. She allowed a slight smile to grace her lips as she saw Hinami run off with Nishiki. Everyone had come out safe from she knew, Renji was here, so was Nishiki and Tsukiyama and the others and they were all standing on the other side of the hill. She thought of the name with distaste. However, she heard a twig break, causing her to turn around and she smiled even larger, seeing the one she so desperately wanted to see since the last month, ever since he had been in the eleventh ward.

"I'm… I'm glad you're okay, Kaneki." Touka smiled, as she stared at the mask-less Kaneki. He didn't look at her, nor did he respond right away.

"Yea… I'm glad you're alright as well, Touka." He said in a small tone, not sounding nervous, if anything, he didn't sound anything, not really any emotion in his voice, something Touka caught on and it troubled her.

"I like you're hair, but you should probably change it back to the way it used to be, you know you'll receive a lot more attention if you keep it." Touka advised him, trying to keep her voice optimistic.

However, he still didn't look at her. "I cant." Was all he said.

"Kaneki… what's wrong?" She didn't look all that worried, but if one looked into her you could see deep worry in them, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.

"I'll cut to the chase, Touka." Kaneki started, his voice taking on a harsh edge, alerting all the others who were just letting Kaneki talk with Touka, especially Renji. "I'm not coming back to Anteiku." Kaneki said, dropping the bomb, causing Touka's world to shatter. Renji's eyes widened briefly before he nodded.

"I understand." He stated, causing Kaneki to divert his attention to Renji. "I understand why you want to… just be careful and trust your judgment."

Her eyes dropped in sadness before her head snapped up in anger. "And why the hell not?!" She almost yelled.

Kaneki finally turned to look at her, with his silvery-brown eyes of his. However, they were different, Touka comprehended that much instantly. They weren't the cheerful and anxious eyes that held childlike innocence… they were filled with sadness, confusion and anger. Something that Kaneki never had shown in his eyes.

"The reason I'm leaving is to become stronger, and I can't achieve that at Anteiku. I also need to figure things out; there are a lot of things in this world that I don't understand, and there's so much to learn. So… that's why I need to leave." He announced while looking at her, his eyes set with the resolve of his own decision.

"K-Kaneki…" Banjou stuttered, getting the young teen's attention. "We were saved by you again… and I want to repay you… so I want to help too."

Kaneki wanted to smile before he shook his head, "I'm sorry Banjou-san… but this is something I have to do on my own. I won't get stronger if I have people helping everywhere I go. I noticed when I had to rely on myself and myself alone when I was captured by Yamori… that I got stronger and smarter when I had to do, and I need to figure things out myself." He revealed, receiving a nod from Renji, who perfectly understood.

However, Touka wasn't as understanding. "How can you stand here and say that?! How can you say that you would get stronger faster alone!?" She yelled, with clear hurt in her eyes.

"Because it's the truth." He answered in stride. "Before… I was constantly denying who I was. While I wasn't born a Ghoul, I realized that I am one… and nothing was going to change that. When I was captured, I couldn't afford to hold that side of me back anymore or I would… die." He revealed once more.

Touka's eyes widened before shakily stood up and tried to punch him. Kaneki made no move to dodge nor did he display any signs of surprise. Touka's hand uncurled out of a ball fell flat handed against his bare chest, losing all resolve to hit him. She fell forward into his chest, and she started crying and Kaneki surprisingly didn't show any signs of discomfort. If anything, he welcomed her embrace as he brushed her back soothingly.

"I don't know when I'll be back… but I will be back." He informed her as gently as he could, getting her to nod sadly. The others couldn't help but be surprised when Touka collapsed in his chest and cried her eyes out. Then again, it only proved how much she actually cared for the, now white haired Ghoul.

"Nishiki…" Getting the older teen's attention. "Take care of her, will you?" Kaneki said before he placed her down where she was previously sitting.

"What happens if I don't?" The orange haired Ghoul asked, wanting to know.

"I'll pluck out your eyes, and force feed them to you." Kaneki told him in a deadly serious tone, showing that he was serious. Nishiki gulped before he sighed.

The orange haired Ghoul looked at the purple haired girl before he sighed once more. "Don't do anything foolish in the near future, will you Touka, I like my danm eyes." Nishiki asked, having a feeling that the whitehaired boy was serious.

"Touka… everyone… goodbye." He turned to greet everyone with a slight smile on his youthful face.

' _Do be careful, Kaneki… I don't want to have to report that you had up and died.'_ Renji thought with a sigh, hoping that he didn't make the bad decision by letter Kaneki go.

~~~~444~~~~


End file.
